1. Simple Example-Giving

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Special words exist in English for naming one or some members of a general class without giving further details

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DEFINITION OF SIMPLE EXAMPLE-GIVING

Example-giving is naming one or more – but not all – of the members of a class. These class members must not have been chosen because they are special in any way; their choice must be random. They normally have to accompany the name of the class. For instance, cats orcats and dogs given as examples might be found alongside the class name animals.

When we randomly name one or some of the members of a class, we may or may not say something about them. Not saying anything about them is what I mean by “simple” example-giving. Here is an example:

(c) Air pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide, cause many problems.

Here, sulphur dioxide is simply named as one of the members of the class of air pollutants, with nothing more said about it (cause many problems is information about air pollutants in general, not just sulphur dioxide).

THE CHALLENGE OF SIMPLE-EXAMPLE GIVING

The two basic requirements for simple example-giving – the class name and the actual example(s) – can be placed either together in the same sentence or separately in multiple sentences. In this respect, simple example-giving resembles other two-idea messages considered within these pages, such as expressing a consequence, clarifying a general idea, naming a similarity and classifying. The two example-giving possibilities may be illustrated like this:

Deciding whether or not to place the example(s) in the same sentence as the class name is the main linguistic judgement to make in simple example-giving. There is also a choice to be made of suitable example-showing language. If this language is chosen first, there will usually be no choice about which sentence the example is given in, but leaving the language choice until later allows more freedom in this matter.

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LANGUAGE FOR SHOWING SIMPLE EXAMPLES

Various words and phrases typically show that a simple example is being given. Some are only possible when the example(s) are given in the same sentence as the general class name, while others must accompany new-sentence example-giving.

1. Words Accompanying Examples in the Same Sentence as their Class

The main words of this type are for example, for instance, e.g., including, such as, like, as, include, illustrated by, say and etc. Two of these, e.g. and etc., are Latin abbreviations explained in more detail in the post 130. Formal Abbreviations.

For example and for instance need a comma before them and no comma after. This is different from their use in complex example-giving, where they do normally have a following comma (see 33. Complex Example-Giving). A comma before and none after is also needed by e.g. and including. However, such as, like and as only sometimes have a preceding comma – for more see 53. “As”, “Like” and “Such as”. As by itself usually has a following preposition in example-giving.

Say and etc normally follow the example(s) that they indicate, as do synonyms of etc like among others, and others, and so on, and suchlike andto name but a few (but not “three dots” […], which are more “Continental” than English – see 59. Paragraph Length). Very importantly, etc and its synonyms cannot be combined with other example-showing expressions (see 24. Good and Bad Repetition and 138. Test your Command of Grammar). The two commonest ways of simple example-giving with them look like this:

(f) There are various Romance languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.

(g) (The) Romance languages are French, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.

In these sentences, the name of the general class containing the examples is Romance languages. The examples are linked to it just as complete lists are without etc.: with either a colon as in (f) or a linking verb (mostly are) as in (g) (see 55. Sentence Lists 2 and 17. Colons versus Semi-Colons). With a colon, etc requires the general class name to have a vague number word before it like various, several or numerous. When a linking verb is used, it should not itself be example-showing like INCLUDE.

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2.Words Accompanying Examples Given in a New Sentence

Most of these form phrases containing a verb (underlined below). This is logical because any new sentence must have its own verb (see 30. When to Write a Full Stop). Useful expressions are:

Some writers, when deciding to give a simple example, may think of both the example and the example-showing language at the same time. If so, they have to use the punctuation that goes with the language they have thought of. For example, thinking of of such as at the moment of choosing the example means that the example must go into the same sentence as the class name – it cannot go anywhere else – and conversely an example after one is must be in a new sentence.

On the other hand, it is possible to think of an example without at the same time thinking of accompanying example-showing language. Then there is more choice about the punctuation. You can either decide to put the example into a new sentence, and only afterwards choose an appropriate example-showing expression (from the second list above), or you can decide not to have a new sentence, choosing your expression from the first list as a result. The decision to start or not start a new sentence would here be determined not by a prior language choice, but for another reason, for example sentence length or personal preference. This approach must surely be the better one, and the one that the most successful writers will use.

A common error with simple example-giving is to use a full stop when a comma is required, or vice versa. Both are possible, but they must be combined with the right expression. Now, to assist understanding and retention of the various points made above, here is a practice exercise.

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EXERCISE: Complete the following as instructed each time. Try to vary your example-showing expressions. Possible answers are given after the exercise.

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1. Give an example country in the same sentence:

Portuguese is spoken in many countries outside Portugal, _____________ .

2. Give an example country in a new sentence:

French is spoken in many countries outside France. ________________.

3. Give TWO example numbers in a new sentence:

Some numbers cannot be divided by any other numbers except themselves and one. __________________________________.

4. Give TWO example conjunctions in the same sentence.

A conjunction is a word that enables two verbs to exist together in one sentence, ______________________.

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5 thoughts on “1. Simple Example-Giving”

Sir,I am a regular reader of your blog because reading this blog has improved my Eglish very much.Each post of the blog is knowledgeable. Reading this post,I found a sentence”The wording that helps to make this difference clear is shown above”.I have a confusion in the grammar and meaning of this sentence.My opinion is that the structure that should be used is “the wording that helps to make this difference clear have been shown”.Sir,could you exempify this along with meaning in your own word.Can I use”given” in stead of shown in the above example.I alway confuse in this type of structure.Another example that I frequently find is “the example is given above”.I think that here should be “the example bas been given above” because the example is previously mentioned.What is the word class of “clear” in the above sentence.I would wait for your reply.Thanks.

Thanks for your interest and kind words. You ask about the difference between “is shown” and “has been shown”. It is one of state versus action: the first suggests something permanently existing, whereas the latter focuses more on the moment when the showing began. You can read more in the post 66. Variable Meanings of Passive Verbs. “Given” can easily be used instead of “shown”. “Clear” in the sentence you mention is an adjective. In other contexts it might be a verb, but not here. The same post on passive verbs has more about words like “clear”.